Nearby gunfire disrupts school

St. Monica's put on lockdown as police probed incident at house.

St. Monica's put on lockdown as police probed incident at house.

January 09, 2009|DAVE STEPHENS Tribune Staff Writer

MISHAWAKA -- Peering through their classroom windows Thursday, St. Monica School students waved and smiled at police officers gathered outside in the morning cold. After a tense morning, when police put the school on lockdown and searched a nearby house for weapons, the smiles and waves were welcome. Police say neighbors in the 200 block of West Grove Street first reported the sound of gunshots about 7:05 a.m., at a home across the street from the school. Mishawaka Assistant Police Chief Mike Samp said officers arrived and saw two men run from the alley into a house at 216 W. Grove St. Police surrounded the house and, Samp said, the two men inside at first refused to come out. After a brief stalemate, Samp said, the men relented and allowed police to search the house, which is subdivided into apartments. Eventually, police took both men to the Mishawaka Police Department for questioning. As police investigated, officials at the school were contacted and told to put the school on lockdown, meaning to block access to the school and to keep people away from windows. The Rev. Jeffery Largent, the pastor of St. Monica and a chaplain for the Indiana State Police, said students began arriving at the school between 7:20 and 7:30 a.m. and were taken to a basement cafeteria. Largent said the school had a lockdown plan in place and followed whatever police said to do. Because some students had not yet arrived, Largent said efforts were made to contact parents to keep students at home. By 8:15 a.m., the two men found inside the home had been placed in police custody, and police reopened Grove Street to the school. Largent said students took part in Mass in the school chapel and then returned to class, as they would on a normal school day. Samp said police searching the house found shell casings in the yard behind the building and inside a residence. Police later uncovered several firearms in the home, Samp said, including the weapon believed to have been used in the incident. Samp said he wasn't sure why shots were fired, but noted police received no reports of injuries. By 8:40 a.m., students could be seen returning to their classrooms, stopping to stare at the police cars parked outside.Staff writer Dave Stephens: dstephens@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6209